I’ll attempt now to answer to the two questions I posed at the end of part seven…Where did this humility come from and what is it doing in me and to me? This is based purely on what I have experienced as also fully confirmed in God’s Word.
It was on July 18, 2005, that I invited Jesus Christ to enter my life. I believe He accepted my invitation, knowing also by God’s Word that He chose me first. God now dwells within me as the Holy Spirit through my faith in Jesus Christ as His living Son and my Lord and Savior. Any amount of humility that I now claim is simply through God’s gift of grace and my growing knowledge of His own presence within me. But Satan has controlled this house for 48 years and he does not want to relinquish control.
The problem here is that God will not coexist with Satan in peace. So long as my desire for God remains intact He will wage a war with Satan on my behalf, for sole occupancy…of me. This is a real war and it is happening right now in a purely spiritual realm. God is performing battlefield triage on my spirit. This is why it hurts. So long as I hang onto one drop of my prideful human nature Satan target it with unrelenting desire to maintain his presence and influence. But God demands absolute victory…the total and complete eviction of Satan. God’s purpose in this war is nothing less than the total transformation of my total being into the exact likeness of His Son, Jesus Christ. I am absolutely blown away by this.
There is observable evidence of this spiritual war in this earthly realm. It’s in the outward (seen by other people) and inward (felt by me and seen by God) demonstrations of this humility; this new humility that is in me but does not originate with me. It’s the sincere apology to someone that I’ve hurt. It’s the immediate pain and remorse I feel when I am inconsiderate in the smallest way to someone. It’s the anticipation of my impact on someone by what I say and how I say it. It’s the need for prayer and counsel to check my motives for any service to God or others…Is my motive born from real humility or is it really pride? It’s the diminishing desire for approval and admiration from other people. It’s the simultaneous growing desire to help and serve other people. It’s a growing sympathy and empathy for any human suffering.
In short, this Holy Spirit that now resides inside me will not leave me alone. He pushes me to think differently. He is very interactive. His presence is real and it is observable in its effect.
Therefore, walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Eph 4:1-3)